DENVER, Colo. – The Nebraska Wesleyan women's basketball team started the 2018-19 season with a loss on Saturday (Nov. 8) as the Prairie Wolves fell 85-74 to Mississippi University for Women at the Johnson & Wales season opening classic in Denver.
 
Nebraska Wesleyan led by one point at halftime, but MUW used a big third quarter outscoring the Prairie Wolves by ten points to take a nine-point advantage into the final period. 
 
A 3-pointer by Bailey Hallgren Meehan with 5:21 left in the game pulled the Prairie Wolves within six points at 73-67 but that was as close as they would get.  MUW went on a 6-0 run to get back ahead by 12 points and they were able to hold on.
 
The Prairie Wolves forced the Owls into 25 turnovers with their full court defense, but they couldn't convert those turnovers into points as they only scored 18 off turnovers, while MUW had 25 points off NWU turnovers.
 
MUW was able to control the inside as they outrebounded the Prairie Wolves by 15 and scored 42 points in the paint.  The Owls pulled down 23 offensive rebounds and had 24 second chance points.
 
NWU shot just 5-17 from the floor in the 4^th quarter to finish the game at 40.0 percent.  The Prairie Wolves were 11-18 from the field in the 2^nd quarter when they scored 29 points, hitting 5-10 from 3-point range.  They only made five 3-pointers the other three quarters.
 
Caitlin Navratil led NWU scoring 26 points on 11-20 shooting.  She also had five assists and four steals to lead the Prairie Wolves in all three categories.  Klaire Phillips scored 14 points and Meehan also reached double figures with 10.
 
MUW was led by Rokila Wallace who scored 19 points off the bench, despite turning the ball over 11 times herself.
 
NWU will try to bounce back on Sunday when they face Johnson & Wales.